I’m always interested in experiences. How people perceive and interact with objects, websites – anything really. That’s probably why this video and article about Grant Achatz’s haute cuisine and work at his Chicago restaurant Alinea caught my attention so quickly.

Seriously, it’s 7 minutes of your life that give you an entirely new perspective to what exactly is “innovation” in something you’ve been doing since you were born – eating.

The video also includes Achatz talking about his ultimate aim: to use food as a kind of artistic medium to give individual diners an emotional experience. “If you can get past the soy sauce on chocolate, you will enjoy it and feel a certain way. It’s a journey where your heart beats a little faster.”

All this only goes out to prove how much of an impact carefully crafted experiences actually have in people. Seeing Grant Achatz (whom I’ll admit never having heard of before today) talk about his craft was, at the very least, inspiring.